1. Field of the Invention
A fluid heat exchanger unit for cooling an electronic device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Research activities have focused on developing assemblies to efficiently dissipate heat from electronic devices that are highly concentrated heat sources, such as microprocessors and computer chips. These electronic devices typically have power densities in the range of about 5 to 35 W/cm2 and relatively small available space for placement of fans, heat exchangers, heat sink assemblies and the like. However, these electronic devices are increasingly being miniaturized and designed to achieve increased computing speeds that generate heat up to 200 W/cm2.
Heat exchangers and heat sink assemblies have been used that apply natural or forced convection cooling methods to cool the electronic devices. These heat exchangers typically use air to directly remove heat from the electronic devices. However, air has a relatively low heat capacity. Such heat sink assemblies are suitable for removing heat from relatively low power heat sources with power density in the range of 5 to 15 W/cm2. The increased computing speeds result in corresponding increases in the power density of the electronic devices in the order of 20 to 35 W/cm2 thus requiring more effective heat sink assemblies.
In response to the increased heat to be dissipated, liquid-cooled units called LCUs employing a cold plate in conjunction with high heat capacity fluids, like water and water-glycol solutions, have been used to remove heat from these types of high power density heat sources. One type of LCU circulates the cooling liquid so that the liquid removes heat from the heat source, like a computer chip, affixed to the cold plate, and is then transferred to a remote location where the heat is easily dissipated into a flowing air stream with the use of a liquid-to-air heat exchanger and an air moving device such as a fan or a blower. These types of LCUs are characterized as indirect cooling units since they remove heat from the heat source indirectly by a secondary working fluid, generally a single-phase liquid, which first removes heat from the heat source and then dissipates it into the air stream flowing through the remotely located liquid-to-air heat exchanger. Such LCUs are satisfactory for moderate heat flux less than 35 to 45 W/cm2 at the cold plate.
In the prior art heat sinks, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,422,307 and 5,304,846, the single-phase working fluid of the liquid cooled unit (LCU) flows directly over the cold plate causing cold plate corrosion and leakage problems.
As computing speeds continue to increase even more dramatically, the corresponding power densities of the devices rise up to 200 W/cm2. The constraints of the miniaturization coupled with high heat flux generated by such devices call for extremely efficient, compact, and reliable thermosiphon cooling units called TCUs. Such TCUs perform better than LCUs above 45 W/cm2 heat flux at the cold plate. A typical TCU absorbs heat generated by the electronic device by vaporizing the captive working fluid on a boiler plate of the unit. The boiling of the working fluid constitutes a phase change from liquid-to-vapor state and as such the working fluid of the TCU is considered to be a two-phase fluid. The vapor generated during boiling of the working fluid is then transferred to an air-cooled condenser, in close proximity to the boiler plate, where it is liquefied by the process of film condensation over the condensing surface of the TCU. The heat is rejected into an air stream flowing over a finned external surface of the condenser. The condensed liquid is returned back to the boiler plate by gravity to continue the boiling-condensing cycle.
The aforementioned co-pending applications disclose a cooling housing with a partition dividing the cooling housing into a upper portion having an upper wall, with a liquid coolant inlet for receiving liquid coolant from the system and a liquid coolant outlet, and a lower portion. The upper portion defines a coolant passage between the partition and the upper wall for liquid coolant flow from the liquid coolant inlet to the liquid coolant outlet. A refrigerant is disposed in the lower portion of the cooling housing for liquid-to-vapor transformation. An electronic device generates an amount of heat to be dissipated and the heat is transferred from the electronic device to the bottom of the heat exchanger cooling housing. The heat is then conducted from the bottom to the refrigerant in the lower portion. A working fluid mover, such as a pump, moves a coolant liquid through a cooling fluid storage vessel that stores excess coolant. The pump moves the cooling fluid through a heat extractor or radiator to dissipate heat from the coolant. However, in that system the radiator is separate and spaced remotely from the cooling housing, to thereby require separate manufacturing, shipping, handling and installation.